India has started a campaign of vilification against Pakistan. Mr. Rajiv Gandhi has leveled unfounded charges, ostensibly for blackmailing the two superpowers which are out to woo India at all costs. So Bharat is in a strong position to exploit their weakness to become a minisuperpower.

While in Moscow, Mr. Rajiv lashed out at Pakistan for collecting arms which he says would upset the balance of power in the region. Pakistan is concerned about its own security for which it has obtained some arms from the US.

It is pertinent to ask why India’s appetite for arms is not satisfied even when it has huge stocks of arms and ammunition in its arsenal. Its military missions continue shuttling between New Delhi and Moscow to get more and more weapons.

India is befooling the superpowers by raising the bogey of threat from Pakistan. No sane person can subscribe to India’s contention. The fact is that it wants to establish hegemony over Pakistan and now over Sri Lanka also. Or for what else it is piling up weapons?

Then, Mr. Rajiv alleges that Pakistan is aiding the Sikhs. This is simply a frivolous charge. Pakistan is not in a position to supply arms to the Sikhs when its own requirements remain unfulfilled. We did not ask India to demolish the Darbar Sahib. What Mrs. Indira had sown Mr. Rajiv is bound to reap.

Also, absolutely baseless is the charge that Pakistan is about to produce an atom bomb. Mr. Rajiv says that America is not compelling Pakistan to desist from nuclear research. India itself exploded a nuclear device some years ago. It has also refused to accept an international inspection of the sites. Pakistan is faced with a serious energy crisis and it would prefer to produce nuclear energy for industry and agriculture rather than go in for a bomb. Mr. Rajiv’s charges are scandalous and scurrilous and his outcry simply preposterous.

In these circumstances, Pakistan must be ready to thwart all dangers. Complete internal unity is the need of the hour. The people and the government should jointly devise ways and means to safeguard the security of the country. It is essential to impart military training to all physically fit persons. We should remain ever vigilant.

SULTAN AHMED CHOWDHRY, Multan in Pakistan Times.

Article extracted from this publication >>  June 21, 1985